


King and Lionheart

by meowmishameow



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, SoRiku Day, Soriku - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 17:41:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20764349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meowmishameow/pseuds/meowmishameow
Summary: The graveyard lived up to its name. It brought nothing but death and disparity. Sora saw that now. Racing heart stopped and his anxiety turned into hopelessness. He was nothing without his friends. Nothing.He repeated that in his head. A constant loop. “I am nothing. I am nothing. I am nothing.” Darkness swarmed around him. He didn’t care anymore. He was broken. He was dead inside, so why shouldn’t his body be dead as well?





	King and Lionheart

**Author's Note:**

> ((Please please listen to King and Lionheart by Of Monsters and Men before you read this! I think of Soriku, especially in KH3. Also I watched the graveyard cutscene while I was writing this, so it should be very very accurate! You should watch the cutscene as well so you can draw similarities between it all - like when Riku reaches his hand out to Sora in the cutscene as opposed to in my story))

The graveyard lived up to its name. It brought nothing but death and disparity. Sora saw that now. Racing heart stopped and his anxiety turned into hopelessness. He was nothing without his friends. Nothing.

He repeated that in his head. A constant loop. “I am nothing. I am nothing. I am nothing.” Darkness swarmed around him. He didn’t care anymore. He was broken. He was dead inside, so why shouldn’t his body be dead as well?

He watched Kairi as Terra - or was it really Terra? - raise his keyblade to strike her down. His heart stopped and he jumped in front of him, hugging the girl to his chest. He wouldn’t let one of his best friends be killed right in front of him. He heard names calling out to him, begging him to stop. Riku reached out to him, eyes widening in fear for the other. Goofy’s shield punted the blow, and Donald’s magic sent the yellow eyed man away. 

Relief was short lived, as Donald’s broken form fell. Aqua sprinted to her fallen friend, Ventus, and sobbed. She clutched him and tried desperately to sense a life force. Kairi and Riku tended to Axel, also broken and unconscious. Sora’s jaw dropped and his heart split in two. His friends were scattered around him, broken and barely breathing.

“This can’t be real,” he whispered to himself, heart pounding so hard that he was sure it was breaking his ribcage. A pool of darkness rose up from the ground in front of where Sora was standing, and he let out a breath. “Huh?” He watched the figure rise and circle into the sky, pure dread chilling his bones.

Riku sensed the boy’s silence from a short distance away. Sora was never silent. Or still. He was either tending to others or finding some way to loudmouth around. The boy had always been restless. When they were on the island, he couldn’t sit still to save his life. He sprinted the entire twenty minutes of their break until he crashed and fell asleep on Riku’s lap at story time. This very thought passed both boys’ minds at the same time.

Sora stared at the darkening mass before him, eyes burning from being unable to blink. Riku ran to him as fast as his long legs would carry him. He gripped the other, eyes wide and scared. Not for him. But for Sora. For his lionheart. His happy key boy. It was unnerving to see him silent and utterly, completely, still. Unmoving despite his heart pounding.

“Pull it together, Sora!” Riku shook him in fear, examining every little detail of his face and pointing out the differences between the shadow of a boy before him and the best friend he knew and loved. Loved. “We haven’t lost them,” Riku said harshly, “they still have their hearts!” Normally he wouldn’t use this tone with the gentle boy, but he could see how fragile he was. He could see how close Sora was to slipping away from him forever. “But,” he continued, crouching down to be eye level with him, “we have to protect them.”

Sora nodded shortly, eyebrows furrowing. “Right!” he ran towards the circling black mass, Riku at his side. 

Aqua walked up to join them, staring at both of them with a hardened expression. “We stand together,” she commanded, more of a threat than a statement. The three of them wielded their keyblades, Aqua stopping only to turn to Mickey. “Mickey, Kairi, Goofy, watch the others.” The keyblade master had a way of giving orders in a way that was both loving and firm. One couldn’t help but fall for her words and do everything she said. Everyone was immediately swayed by the woman’s words. They listened when she called for them. Everyone except Terra.

“No! We should all get to safety while we still can!” Mickey warned the others, eyes concerned.

“It’s too late for that,” Riku urged, glancing at the unconscious figure of Donald on the hot, dusty earth. His gaze flicked back to the black swarm slowly coming nearer. His goal was to protect his friends. He had to protect Sora. _ Sora _.

_ “Why are you crying?” Riku asked, flopping beside his best friend, “did you get in trouble for biting again?” He grinned and ruffled the other’s spiky hair, nudging him affectionately. _

_ “They broke my spaceship,” Sora looked up at the other with watery blue eyes and sniffled. Riku’s smile faltered for a minute and he pulled the other against his chest. _

_ “Well,” he hummed, “remember when we talked about lions in science class?” “Yeah…” “They’re strong,” Riku continued, “brave. They’re not afraid of anything!” “So what? My spaceship is broken,” Sora pouted. “So what I’m saying is that you just need to be like a lion! I mean, you’ve got the hair for it. It’s all big and spiky and-” he tugged at the other boy’s hair, ruffling it excessively. This eventually made Sora laugh and he pushed his hands away, sighing. _

_ “So you’re saying...what...I have to be a lion?” “Yeah,” Riku smiled, “A lionheart. It’s like, the heart of a lion. You’re strong and brave. And even though they broke your spaceship, they can’t break your heart. Your heart is strong. You can’t lose it.” Sora nodded slowly, brows furrowed deep in concentration. “Lions are also kings of the jungle! So if I’m a lionheart, does that mean you’ll be my King?” Riku’s face heated and he let out a panicked breath. “What?! Sora! I-” “You’re my King,” Sora practically purred, “and we live in a castle of light! There’s happiness and butterflies and - oh! And spaceships! And those spaceships take us any place we want. To any world we want!” “Sora, spaceships are just toys. They’re not real.” “No, no. They’re real. I’ll prove it to you someday. There are other worlds out there and I’m gonna take you to every single one of them, even if I lose you along the way.” _

A tornado of heartless rapidly formed in front of them. Sora’s heart was racing, but Riku’s stopped. “It can’t be...No…” Aqua whispered brokenly, taking a tentative step back. Even a keyblade master could be afraid. Her hand loosened around the keyblade and her fingers slipped, letting it drop ever so slightly. She stared at the mass with unblinking eyes. She was done. She couldn’t do this anymore. Was it worth it? Was any of it worth it? She would never save Terra or Ven. She would never do anything. She was nothing. Nothing.

Aqua was silently and morbidly swept away by the blackening tide, her figure nothing but a flash of blue before being taken by the darkness forever. She was gone. Like blowing out a match and snuffing out the light: Gone.

“Aqua!” Riku yelled, reaching out for her. There was no hope for the other master. She disappeared. In their vicious claws, the demon tide swept Ventus away. Kairi hugged Axel to protect him, but they fell victim to the cold hands of death just as the others had. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy all vanished before their eyes.

Sora looked around in fear, his blood running cold and hardening into icy shards. No. _ No. _ He reached out a desperate hand, coming into contact with Kairi as she was being carried away. She was too far. Her hand slipped away and Sora’s heart cracked nearly in two, hardly being kept together. He was nothing without his friends. Nothing.

Keyblade falling, Sora dropped to his knees and let out a blood curdling scream. He was nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

_ “Lionheart, why are you crying?” “They threw my book in the ocean!” “You read?” “It was a comic book! My favorite one!” Riku tugged affectionately on his hair, “I’ll use my allowance to get you a new one.” _

Screaming. Pain. Hearts blackening.

_ “What’s the matter, Lionheart?” “Do you ever think that there are worlds out there besides ours?” “Shouldn’t you be studying?” “I’m serious, Riku! There could be oceans far away from just our little islands.” “Maybe. Doubt it. But how do you know that they’re good? They could be full of evil creatures and monsters.” “Monsters?!” “Monsters, Sora.” “Hmm...I could take them on if I was with you! You’re my king, remember?” Riku blushed, carding his fingers through Sora’s hair. “Yeah, yeah. I’m your king.” _

He was nothing. Nothing. Why had they taken his friends and not him? He gave up. Nothing mattered anything. His voice went hoarse from screaming and he pounded on the ground, begging to be taken just like they had killed all of those he valued most right in front of him. All but one. And now his heart was hardly being kept together.

“Sora!” Riku ran to the boy, stopping in front of him. “They’re gone. Kairi, Donald, Goofy, the King...Gone forever.” He looked up at the silver haired boy with watering eyes.

_ “Hey, hey, Lionheart. What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” “I got a bad test grade and all my comic books got taken away.” “Well, maybe you should have studied. You can come over to my place and we’ll read comic books, okay?” “Hey, Riku?” “Yeah?” “I don’t feel very lionheartish right now.” “You’re always my lionheart though. Always.” He ruffled the boy’s hair as he always did when he was upset, and with that, a smile appeared on his face. _

“What do we do?” Sora looked up at Riku, tears streaming down his face, “without them...I...All my strength came from them!” He sobbed, shaking his head and gasping for breath, “they gave me all of it!” 

He stopped to stare at the ground, silent tears rolling down his cheeks. “Alone,” he breathed, “I’m...worthless.” He sat silently, the black swarm of heartless devouring his friends before them. Sora’s blue eyes dripped, and with his tears fell his courage. “We’ve lost,” he whispered, “it’s over.” Riku’s hand reached out and hung in the air for a second.

_ Lionheart, why are you crying? _

He wanted to play with his hair. He knew if he could just tug on his hair or ruffle it up, the boy would show a smile again.

His hand dropped. This wasn’t like the island. Sora was right: There were other worlds. But Riku was right in saying that they had monsters. Horrible, horrible monsters. Riku’s fist clenched and he knew what he had to do. He would save Sora no matter what it took.

“Sora, you don’t believe that. I know you don’t.” He walked towards the swirling masses of black, keyblade held firm at his side. Sora looked up and watched him. Everything was in slow motion. The last piece of his heart that was being held together threatened to come undone as he watched the other walk away. Riku’s arm pulled back and he prepared to be hit. It was going to hurt. He knew that. That was okay. He could hurt if it meant Sora would be alright.

_ Howling ghosts they reappear in mountains that are stacked with fear, but you’re a king and I’m a lionheart. _

He held his keyblade out with a yell, blocking the heartless from coming directly at his lionheart. Dead heartless fell around Sora and the blue eyed boy stared with fear. Was any of this real? It couldn’t be.

_ And in the sea that’s painted black, creatures lurk below the desk, but you’re a king and I’m a lionheart. _

Riku leaned forward, grimacing and struggling to hold the blade up. His leg shifted back and he forced his body to stay grounded. Waves of black rushed past Sora. Riku screamed, willing to fade if it meant Sora could stay. Sora’s eyes widened and he gasped, watching the boy. The boy he loved. His king.

Riku’s form started to darken. He started to fade to black. Darkness tore at his clothes and skin until he was enveloped completely. Sora gasped and reached out to grab him, but there was nothing to grab. That was it. The last piece of his heart shattered in two. He was broken.

_ As the world comes to an end, I’ll be here to hold your hand. ‘Cause you’re my king and I’m your lionheart. _

He let the darkness overtake him. What was the point in fighting? He was done. _ Lionheart. _ Worthless. _ Lionheart. _ Alone. _ Lionheart. _ His last light was gone forever.

_ And so, as foretold, darkness prevailed, and light expired... _


End file.
